Sensory Overload
by mlw217
Summary: Set in season 3-Alex goes after Amanda alone. R&R!
1. Chapter 1

Sensory Overload

Disclaimer: I don't own Nikita.

Too much sound…too much solitude. No sleep, no food…she had no energy to get up from her concrete corner. She fixed her unblinking eyes on the door of her prison, not seeing anything. Thoughts going through her mind were sharp and incomplete as they painfully tried to break through the monotonous, unending buzzing that surrounded her. Her eyes were sunken and void of any visible will to escape. The starvation was among the many tactics to get her to give up Intel, but she refused. She had held up under physical beatings, sensory overload and deprivation, and merciless emotional torture. She didn't know how much longer she could take this but the only thing she could think of now was her imminent death. She found herself fantasizing about how she would die, and immediately she knew she had to get out of there. Breathing was difficult. She cringed as she drew in a stale breath of oxygen and didn't even grab at her ribs where she was sure nearly all of them had been broken at some point. She had long given up on soothing the shooting, debilitating pain that radiated throughout her body. Countless injuries covered her from head to toe. But she didn't care. She had no energy to exert on that nonsense. Every ounce of energy she had was directed at keeping all the thoughts in her head just where they were. She couldn't let them out. And she vowed that she wouldn't; no matter what. She did wish that her captors would get furious at her unresponsiveness and kill her…but they were just as patient as she was stubborn. The dark haired woman took another painstaking breath and let it out heavily, as if it were a weight she could no longer keep up. She wondered when someone would find her; come save her. But now, after all of this time, it was just a small thought in the back of her mind that she paid no attention to. That hope had slowly shriveled up the longer she'd been in the prison. She was all alone. There was no hope that anyone would find her. How could they? How could they know that she was so stupid to go after them by herself? How could they know that it went terribly wrong? How could they know that she was being tortured and was dying? They couldn't. And that was why her hope was dead. Alex was dying and there was no one to save her.

She'd been having a hard time what with Sean leaving and the constant temptation of drugs around her. As she slipped up more and more, the shame was piling up. So she left. She told Nikita she needed some time to think…and now here she was: dying and in more pain than she thought humanly possible. If only Nikita knew where she was and that she was in trouble. The bright side was that she was no longer dependent on pain killers. Alex had gotten over that after the first week and now all she had was pain and death to look forward to. She was going to die…very soon. She didn't know what time it was or really how much time had passed; she could only guess. Then, something Alex could've never predicted happened, bursting through the door of her personal prison.

It was Amanda…and her eyes were burning with something that looked like anger, satisfaction, and violence. She calmly shut the door and stared down at the broken girl almost with pity.

"Hello, Alex. You've lasted much longer than I expected…I don't have time for this." Her perfect hair didn't move an inch as she snapped, bringing in a man with a camera in his hands. "Nikita will love to hear from you. I've heard she misses you." She snarled, flattening her dress. "So, why don't you tell Nikita to come save you?" Amanda smirked and waited. When nothing came out of Alex's mouth, she grew impatient. Alex blinked slowly and missed another man walking in with purpose in his step. When she opened her eyes again, the man was pulling her up by her broken arm and she was crying out in pain. There was no fight left in the broken Russian girl and Amanda almost looked sorry for a second. After a long enough beating, she decided she'd gotten enough footage. "Alright…enough. Get a doctor in here to make sure she's not gonna die on us." There was an indistinguishable hint of worry in her voice and she turned on her heel, clicking down the concrete hall.

….

Nikita walked into the bathroom, stress and worry nearly burying her alive. Alex was gone and nothing was going as she'd planned. Tears welled up in her eyes, but before she let them go, Sonya came through the door.

"You need to come see this. Now." Her accent wavered and shook as her wide eyes connected with Nikita's. She followed the woman to ops where she saw Birkoff standing at his computer.

"What's going on, Birkoff?" Nikita snapped, definitely not in the mood for another disaster. Birkoff frowned, emotions scrunching his face into a half-angry scowl.

"Maybe you should sit down." His voice was shaking. Nikita narrowed her eyes and shifted in her stance.

"Just show me." She didn't have time for this.

"We found Alex…" Birkoff pushed a button and a video started playing. Nikita felt her heart drop fast and her mouth go dry. A broken girl lay on the ground; she almost looked dead. Nikita would've assumed that she was dead except for her eyes being open. They were blue. The same blue that she knew so well. Nikita stepped forward slowly and stopped when she heard a snarling voice. It was Amanda. Alex didn't respond and then a man was dragging her crying form to her feet, hitting her and picking her back up when she collapsed. Alex wasn't fighting back. She was defeated and waiting to die. Nikita could hardly breathe. She had to grab onto the table in front of the computer to support her weak legs. She wanted to beg them to stop, but her mouth wasn't working. Nothing was working. All of this time Alex had been fighting for her life and Nikita hadn't done anything. When the video cut off, the silence was thick. No one spoke or moved. Finally, Michael was at Nikita's side. He gritted his teeth before he spoke.

"We'll get her back. Amanda will die this time."


	2. Chapter 2

Sensory Overload

Disclaimer: I don't own Nikita! (Goes for the rest of this story too!)

AN: Wow! I seriously didn't expect that kind of response! You guys are awesome! I loved getting done with my English Lit. final and coming back to some very sweet reviews! Thanks for such a great response! Sorry for the late update! School and work took over my entire life. I'm now off for Summer break! YAY! (And taking more classes…less yay) Now back to the story!

_Alex looked like death and Nikita furrowed her brow as the younger girl approached her. Concern filled her expression and she reached out to put a hand on her shoulder. _

_ "Are you okay, Alex?" Nikita wondered, her tone low. _

_ "Yeah…" Alex trailed off and didn't meet her mentor's eyes. "I just…need some time…some time to think." Shame filled her pale cheeks with red and she looked at the ground. Her eyes were dark._

_ "Um…okay. Do you want to talk about it?" Nikita was confused and she frowned, still unable to capture Alex's gaze. The Russian shook her head and cleared her throat._

_ "I'm gonna be gone for a little while. I'll call you." Alex walked away, leaving a sufficiently confused and worried Nikita alone in the hallway. She didn't follow her and immediately she regretted it. _

….

Alex remembered leaving like it was yesterday; it was probably one of the biggest mistakes of her life seeing as she was about to die. She felt her body shaking against the cold, hard floor and she did nothing to stop it. The doctor had come in twice already and administered some medicine; she wasn't sure what it was but it definitely wasn't pain medicine. She'd wanted to die before and had even tried to speed up the process once, but right now, death couldn't come soon enough. It only made it worse that now Nikita was going to put herself in Amanda's crosshairs. Now, because of her stupidity, Nikita could die risking her life to save Alex's. Despite the intense, fiery pain running through her, she had a reason to live.

….

"They're blocking her tracker…" Birkoff said through gritted teeth. Nikita swore under her breath and avoided eye contact with Michael, who was studying her carefully as she paced the room.

"How are we supposed to find her?" Nikita blurted, frustration coloring her angry voice with a dangerous edge.

"I might have another way." Birkoff's tone was low and hopeful as his fingers flew across the keyboard. Sonya glanced over at his screen and her eyes widened; she kept watching, amazed at his skills. "It might take me a few more minutes, but I'll find her, Niki." Nikita nodded and continued to pace across the Ops floor. Michael pursed his lips and gritted his teeth, trying to catch Nikita's eyes.

"Okay, I'm almost there…..GOT IT! And sent." Birkoff yelled, sending the address to Nikita and Michael's phone. His eyes were wide and he looked up from his computer with hope and determination. Nikita's expression brightened and she kissed his cheek, whispering in his ear.

"Thanks, nerd." She immediately turned around and grabbed Michael, leaving Ops with an urgent jog.

….

Alex shook, the pain attacking every nerve ending. Her breathing was shallow and she felt sick to her stomach, but she sat up anyway. The brunette pulled herself to the concrete wall behind her and leaned back, now breathing hard from the effort. Then, as if on cue, Amanda walked in, a few large men in tow.

"Oh, look at you. Up and around. Good, I was starting to think we were losing you." Her sinister smile was almost as sickening as Alex's head injuries, but she gritted her teeth and listened patiently. "Now, I'm sure Nikita's seen the video enough times to feel sufficiently responsible and she should be on her way soon." Amanda looked very proud of herself as she paraded around the concrete cell, the two men posted at the door. Alex rolled her eyes and pushed herself up a little more, trying to stabilize her position against the wall. Amanda paused. "What? No quippy remarks?" She looked mock-disappointed. Alex watched as the malicious woman continued her monologue and she said nothing. After a few minutes of this, Amanda seemed to get tired of listening to herself, so she mumbled something else and walked out, leaving Alex alone once again. The Russian heiress blinked and felt her lids getting heavy. Within seconds, unconsciousness took over her body.


	3. Chapter 3

Sensory Overload

Disclaimer: I don't own Nikita.

Michael drove as fast as he could without drawing attention as Nikita stared out the window, wringing her hands anxiously. Michael knew the blaming going on inside the woman's head and wished he could stop her; convince her that this wasn't her fault. He sighed and gritted his teeth before speaking.

"Nikita…" He kept his voice low, hesitant to say anything right now in the thick tension.

"Yeah." The assassin didn't move her gaze, responding shortly.

"Nikita, come on. Look at me, please." He added the please, hoping it would make this stubborn woman look away from her window.

"What?" She finally looked at the man next to her, trying to keep the tears from surfacing.

"We'll find her. And she's gonna be okay. We're going to get her back." Michael said this with conviction and made it hard for Nikita to keep the tears away.

"She looked so…" Her voice cracked and she looked away. "Broken." She jerked her head and wiped a stray tear, covering her mouth with her hand. There was a silence and Michael gripped the steering wheel, his knuckles white. "She's…" Nikita stopped.

"I know…I know." Michael reached over and took his fiancée's hand, pressing his foot down on the gas.

….

Alex held her broken arm protectively against her chest as she stood up. She held her breath and ground her teeth together, squeezing her eyes shut. The amount of pain this movement caused was more than she'd imagined, but she prevailed, standing against the wall for support. Her legs did hurt, but that was nothing compared to her ribs and her pounding head, making the world spin and turn upside down every time she took a step. The dark-haired girl swayed and limped to the door, making sure it was locked before she banged on it with her good arm. Within a couple of minutes, Amanda was at the door, pushing her way in so fast that Alex barely had time to get away from the swinging steel door.

"Alex, you called?" Amanda sounded bored, playing if off that she was exactly where she wanted to be. Alex could tell how satisfied Amanda was and she tried to stand up straighter. Now, all Alex had to do was stall. She was in no condition to fight her way out, so this was the only option: stall and distract so Nikita could get her out.

"Yeah. What do you want with me?" Her voice was weak and Alex gritted her teeth, silently berating herself.

"Oh, I could ask you the same thing. You were coming after me, remember? I just took advantage of your childish behavior. Worked out well, didn't it?" Amanda paced, clicking across the floor as she crossed her arms, her smile contented and smug.

"I came to kill you." The weakness was gone. Her eyes were dark with hatred and disgust and she saw Amanda stop pacing. Amanda kept her composure, but Alex could tell that she'd put the woman on edge.

"And how did that work out for you?" Amanda's derisive words echoed off the concrete. There was a small silence and Alex struggled to stand upright. The injured Russian didn't say anything. "Oh, that's right, you got caught." Amanda chuckled, tucking her perfectly fixed hair behind her ear. "After all I've done for you…you're going to kill me?" Normally, Alex would've choked back a snort of laughter, but she didn't have an ounce of self control at the moment. The jarring movement of laughing caused another wave of pain to wash over her but it was worth it to see Amanda jerk her head in her direction.

"You are truly psychotic." Alex's smile was haunting, blood on her teeth and lips. She was starting to get more than a little delirious. Amanda's eyes were wide and filled with moisture, whether from anger or shock, Alex didn't know. "You think….you think you made Nikita and she made me and that somehow…that makes me indebted to you?" Alex stumbled off of the wall and limped closer to the center of the room. "You are a psychopath, Amanda. And I owe you nothing. And Nikita owes you nothing." Amanda now looked like she was going to explode. Little veins were protruding beside her eyes and on her forehead.

"You little….." Amanda snarled, striding to where Alex was standing, grabbing her by the throat.

"What are you going to do? You've already had your henchmen almost beat me to death. Are you going to kill me now?" Alex was baiting the insane woman in front of her, but she didn't know how else to stall. She felt Amanda's hand restricting more and more around her throat and she prayed for Nikita to get there. As it began getting harder to breathe, a burst of adrenaline ran through her and she punched Amanda in the face. The force made Alex fall onto her hurt arm causing her to cry out, but Amanda only stumbled. Before Amanda could retaliate, she was distracted by shots being fired at the door. Alex watched panic cross her face and then a calm cover the fear. Amanda's calm turned into Alex's agony as she pulled out a gun and shot her, escaping out a back door of the room. Alex grabbed at her stomach, feeling a warm liquid running through her fingers.

"ALEX!" She heard her name, but it sounded like it was far away, mixed in with gunfire. It sounded like Nikita's voice but maybe that was just a hopeful delusion. Maybe the blood loss was altering her reality. A few more seconds that felt like an eternity passed and Alex's vision was going dark. "Alex! Alex, oh my gosh." It was Nikita, but Alex could barely tell who it was kneeling over her and she could no longer understand any of the words the figure was saying as her eyes were closing. She felt all of the pain fading away as her consciousness failed.

_Thanks for all of the wonderful reviews! Please R&R! –mlw217-_


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